Review: Pottery Barn Credit Card

Not good for one-time use. The Pottery Barn Credit Card doesn’t offer a first-purchase discount or initial bonus, as is so common with retailer-affiliated credit cards. So it’s not a great option for infrequent Pottery Barn shoppers.

Great rewards for Pottery Barn regulars. As stingy as the Pottery Barn Rewards Card is up front, it’s even more generous on an ongoing basis. You will receive 1 point per $1 spent and $25 in store credit for every 250 points accrued. That’s the equivalent of 10% back, which is twice what many of the most popular store credit cards offer.

Stay away from the “special” financing. The Pottery Barn Credit Card offers 0% interest for 12 months on purchases of at least $750. But you shouldn’t accept it. Thanks to a feature called deferred interest, the Pottery Barn Card’s regular APR will retroactively apply to your entire original purchase amount if you’re late with a monthly bill payment or don’t repay your full balance by the 12-month mark. So you’re better off using a general-consumer 0% credit card for big-ticket Pottery Barn purchases.

No annual fee is not, not unusual. No one wants to pay an annual fee if it can be avoided, so in that sense it’s good the Pottery Barn Store Card doesn’t charge one. But neither do nearly all other store credit cards, so this aspect of the offer isn’t a game changer.

Pottery Barn Credit Card's Rewards

Earn 1 point (10% back in rewards) for every dollar spent with your Pottery Barn Credit Card at any Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, or PBteen store, catalog or online at potterybarn.com, potterybarnkids.com or pbteen.com.

For every 250 points accumulated, you will receive a $25 Rewards Certificate.

Exclusive events and offers and Double reward opportunities offered throughout the year.

Transactions of $250 or more receive Reward Dollars. Transactions greater than $750 may choose between earning rewards or promotional financing.

Pottery Barn Credit Card's Key APRs & Fees

Purchase Intro APR

0%
for 12 months

Transfer Intro APR

Balance Transfers Not Allowed

Regular APR

29.24% (V)

ANNUAL FEE None

Pottery Barn Credit Card's Additional Info

MAX LATE FEE $39

MAX OVERLIMITFEE None

MAX PENALTY APR None

GRACE PERIOD 25 days

ONLINE RESPONSE No

CASH ADVANCEAPR N/A

CASH ADVANCEFEE N/A

FOREIGNTRANSACTION FEE N/A

SMART CHIP No

Deferred Interest Details: No interest if paid in full within 12 months on purchases of at least $750.

3.2 out of 5

I have been a Pottery Barn credit card holder through Comenity Bank for 10 years now. I am not one that would normally come online and complain, but my most recent experience has been a mind bogglingly bad one. I simply want to do all I can to ensure that no one else has to suffer through what I have for the last eight months. I ordered some furniture through Pottery Barn last September. There is a long lead time on the furniture to make it to you, and your credit card account is charged when the furniture ships. As I always do, I paid off this charge in a timely manner from my USAA checking account. The furniture then made it to our home last December. We immediately recognized that the cushions of the leather sectional we order were filled with a high density foam, and not the down wrap they are advertised as having (this had happened to us prior as well). That being the case, we refused delivery of the item in the truck, and were told we would be refunded the amount (which is over $3,000). The amount was refunded from Pottery Barn to my Comenity account in a timely manner, in the form of an account credit. After not yet seeing the refund make it, I contacted Comenity Bank to check on the status of my refund. I was patched through to a supervisor, and we set up an electronic refund. After patiently waiting for weeks, I called back stating that I still had not yet received my refund. I was then told that it showed on their end that the refund had been deposited. Knowing that this money was never deposited into the checking account I requested, I was guided into beginning a dispute. After again patiently waiting, I called back in several times to check on the status of this dispute. I was eventually told by another supervisor that this should be an easy fix through the refund team, and that the dispute was not necessary since Pottery Barn refunded the money to my account, and it was simply a refund issue. The supervisor insisted that I needed to cancel the dispute, so that they could get in and ensure the refund was taken care of in a much quicker manner through the refund team. That being the case, I followed their lead. They ensured me I would receive follow up phone calls, and that they were "on this". However, I never heard back from there, nor could I be patched back through to them (as the agent ID# they give seems to mean nothing when you call back in). After many more phone calls, I was encouraged to upload a copy of the deposits that went into my checking account during the timeframe in question (this clearly showed no deposits in the amount in question/ from Comenity Bank). I instantly did that through the secure message center as was advised, and this matter again went back into dispute. I was also again assured not to worry that they were "on it", and would follow it each step and keep me engaged as changes happened. Of course, I never heard back from them, nor could I be patched back through to them. After several more weeks of waiting, I again called in and was told by a supervisor that the dispute is for disputing that the merchant did not credit the credit card account back, and that my matter was a "simple fix" by the refund department. They again insisted to end the dispute, so that they could get in and escalate this with the refund department. I again followed their path. Naturally again nothing came of it. I then called back in not wanting to risk this happening again, and did all I can to have this matter solved as quickly as possible through a dispute. Yesterday, after nearly 60 days of waiting, I received a letter stating that the refund was deposited into a Bank of America account on February 1, 2019, and that I would need to contact them at a generic 1-800 number. I then called Bank of America at that phone number, and they simply stated that there was nothing they can do, as I am a third party to the matter (neither the depositor or the depositee). They seemed shocked that Comenity Bank would not have taken care of this themselves, and said that I need to reach back out to Comenity Bank to have them contact Bank of America to work at getting the money back. I instantly expressed my sincere frustration to a supervisor with Comenity Bank, whom apologized, and said initiating another dispute is all that they can do. This supervisor was able to listen to my initial refund request back in January and very clearly verify that I gave the correct account information, and the supervisor confirmed the same account information. They seemed shocked that the money somehow made it to and entirely different banking institution, and even more so that this was not recognized during the dispute. Now I am being told again that I will have to wait 60 to 90 more days for another dispute to be resolved, on top of who knows what thereafter to actually get my money back. My family counted on having this money back in January to February and it now looks like it will be a year before we get our much needed money back that was caused by negligence on their part. Without having spent hours and hours/ phone call after phone call following up on this matter it simply would have gone into a black hole (which it did even with my persistence). Everyone gives false hope and then passes the buck. I asked time after time to be connected to the supervisor at the highest level possible, only to be assured I was in good hands, and I was the highest I could go with it. At the end of the day, I wasted countless hours of my time/ minutes off my cell phone plan/ time with my 3 year old daughter, and incurred a great deal of financial stress as a result of repeated negligence and lack of caring about their customer. It is my sincere hope that I am promptly finally refunded this amount, as well reimbursed for the interest fees I have incurred on another card as the result of being out this amount. Ultimately I hope no one else has to go through this. While the 10% back rewards is great. The lack of appropriate customer support simply makes it not worth doing business with Comenity Bank.

You will regret opening a pottery barn card. Seriously DONT do it!!! They totally screwed me on rewards.. charged my account instead of using the reward. I had no idea and i got all sorts of frees and it messed up my credit score. They would do NOTHING to fix the situation. Never again pottery barn! ??

I opened the credit card because I was making a furniture purchase and wanted to benefit from the rewards. It's really not worth it in hindsight. Rewards are very difficult to redeem and the system does not make any sense. When using rewards, you must pay for the purchase with your PB credit card and they supposedly credit your account for the amount of the reward. I've made two purchases with rewards and the rewards have yet to be applied to my credit card after multiple months. I've made multiple calls to both Pottery Barn and Commenity and still have no resolution. It's taken so long for the rewards to be applied that I will soon have to make my 3rd credit card payment to prevent owing interest (when I should really owe little to nothing). It's a ridiculous and frustrating card that wastes a lot of time!

Pottery Barn uses Comenity. They are horrific. The only card that does not allow you to set up auto pay. They want you to miss a payment. They don't send statements so if you do not realize the grace period is up you get a giant interest charge. Pottery Barn won't help you. If you call Comenity they are awful. DON'T DO IT.

The Pottery Barn Credit Card rewards system is horrible!
It is extremely frustrating to earn credits and even MORE frustrating to redeem.
The Pottery Barn credit card rewards policy seems intentionally managed to minimize customers being able to redeem and receive earned credits.
BIG disappointment! :- (

Comenity Bank and their so called rewards program are an absolute scam. I made a very large purchase several months ago and chose the 12 month 0% interest option. However, due to poor customer service on Pottery Barn's part, I was given a refund.
Even though I did not earn reward points for this purchase, I was deducted over 1000 dollars from the rewards dollars anyway. So in effect, I was being punished by Comenity Bank because Pottery Barn treated me poorly.
When I saw this, I assumed it MUST be a mistake. So, imagine my outrage when I was told that it doesn't matter which option you choose, if you get a refund, your rewards points get deducted. In the teller's words, "it's just how the system works."
I cannot stress how horrible my experience has been with this whole thing. First Pottery Barn basically stealing money from me to Comenity Bank, again, basically stealing money from me. I will tell everyone I know not to shop at Pottery Barn and without exception DO NOT use the Pottery Barn credit card.

The Cominity bank which is in charge of Pottery barn suck so bad. Their customer service is horrible. I do not recommend this credit card. Even though it is all their fault you didn't receive the credit card, they'll charge you the late fee and never gonna lift the fee and any reason whatsoever. They will just keep repeat whatever they have to say and ignore you completely.

The rewards program is a scam. I used an $800 rewards certificate that was not credited to my statement. When I inquired about why they are scamming people like this, I was told:
"Thank you for your recent inquiry to our Customer Care Department.
Comenity Bank issues your account and responds to all credit related
inquiries. We apologize for any inconvenience you've experienced with your account. Unfortunately, we are unable to assist you with your inquiry regarding Pottery Barn products, returns or other services. Please contact them directly for assistance at 1-800-922-9934. We hope this information is helpful. For the security of your account information, we ask if there are any follow up questions you have related to this concern, please click on the reply button."
This information was not helpful.

Avoid this card (or any card by Commenity bank) like the plague!!!! If you don’t use the card they lower your credit limit (which dings your credit). Then after that, they will abruptly CANCEL your credit card and kill your FICO score even more! Snotty and unhelpful customer service. They cancelled my card for non-use EVEN THOUGH my wife also has a card and we charge things on it regularly! Guess what PB, I am buying a new home that needs to be furnished. Guess who I’m NOT using?? That’s right...Pottery Barn OR Crate & Barrel. Go pound sand with your almost 30% interest rate anyway!

Horrible experience with this credit card. I only used once for online order and they never sent me a bill. I received credit collector calls on Christmas day for that. I called them and cleared up the bill. Now three months later I suddenly get a bill of $$$ for late fee and interest out of nothing! I just don't know how to get rid of their harassment.

Pretty hard to find a worse card. Incredibly high late fees and interest. I have cleaned up this balance three times and bills keep coming. I finally called and the operator agreed and said he would credit the last fees. He did but left $1.00 there so they could charge me $30.00 in additional fees. I have six credit cards with $100,000 in credit. All the others go smoothly but Comenity keeps charging me over and over. Stay away from them.

Pottery barn is a retailer world renowned for their HORRIBLE customer Service. They offer a "rewards" program but good luck actually being able to use it. They charge you all this money for shipping but then forget to actually ship it to you. If you discover any problems with your account or statement, expect to spend a minimum of 1.5 hours on the phone and having to call about 4 times before any progress is made on your issue. They will do everything they can to prevent you from being able to use your rewards points, and will then charge you finance fees and late charges for not completely making your credit card payment, even before they have delivered a single item, and your rewards points/money would have covered the WHOLE BILL AMOUNT.
Walmart has better customer service and a better tracking system than PB does.

Not straight forward. Charges are often unclear. Rewards are not honored and horrible customer service. Don’t fall for this card you’ll regret it like I did. I bought so many things From PB and the credit card is a rip off!

Comenity suddenly and without notice lowered my credit limit from $4,000 to $1,300 after being a good customer who used the card and paid on time for 3 years. Utilization skyrocketed from 25% to around 90%. Paying this off immediately. Avoid.

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We work hard to show you up-to-date product terms, however, this information does not originate from us and thus, we do not guarantee its accuracy. When you click "Apply Now" you will be directed to the offering institution's website. In addition, keep in mind that actual rates and other information may vary for a number of reasons including the applicant's' creditworthiness and differences between an individual's situation and the criteria/assumptions used to generate the information displayed. Before submitting an application, always verify all terms and conditions with the offering institution. Please let us know if you notice any differences.

Ad Disclosure: Offers originating from paying advertisers are noted as “Sponsored” at the top of this page. Advertising may impact how and where offers appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). At WalletHub we try to present a wide array of offers, but our offers do not represent all financial services companies or products.

Irrespective of whether an offering institution is a paid advertiser, the presence of offer information on WalletHub does not constitute a referral or endorsement of the institution by us or vice versa. Furthermore, offers have not been reviewed or approved by the offering institution. Information is displayed first and foremost to help consumers make better decisions.

Editorial Disclaimer: Editorial and user-generated content on this page is not provided, commissioned, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the issuer. In addition, it is not issuer’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.